It was supposed to be over.
The U.S. Supreme Court brought the gavel down almost two years ago. The candidate with the most electoral votes took the oath. His approval rating soared above any other U.S. president's. Just this month, the Republican Party defied history by taking control of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate in a midterm election.
Any question about the presidential recount in 2000 seems to be answered.
And that's what Al Gore might be asking the voters. He is back in the spotlight. He is in this week's Time magazine and is on the cover of this week's Washington Post Magazine. He also appeared on Larry King Live, Tuesday.
The former presidential candidate might be asking the public for another chance, but students are wondering what to expect if they give it to him. While some are putting their faith in the current commander in chief, others want to hear what Gore has to say.
Sophomore Anitra Montgomery said Bush's decisions haven't all been good ones. However, she said she appreciates that Bush uses his religious faith to make his decisions, and Gore hasn't shown her that he can do better.
"I don't really know how Gore would react under pressure," Montgomery said.
Some students said, despite their approval with the way Bush handles his duties, they would vote for Gore in 2004. Others would vote for Bush in 2004 despite having voted for Gore in 2000.
"(Gore) had his time," sophomore Eric Jones said.
Adam Stant, president of University Democrats, said he only wants to see Gore run his campaign differently this time -- without political consultants.
"Consultants are great," Stant said. "But they try to twist you to things that you really don't believe in. People see that."
The official reason Gore has spent so much time on the interview circuit is to promote the new book he co-authored with his wife, Tipper. He said he will announce his decision about 2004 shortly after the holidays. Joe Losco, chair of the department of political science, said many professional democrats see Gore as their front-runner, but there will probably be a challenge from some faction of the party that believes Gore had his chance in 2000 and blew it.
"I think (Gore)'s the front-runner by default," Losco said. "The other names have all been kind of testing the waters. I don't think any name that's been mentioned has a clear shot to the nomination."
Those other names include Sens. John Kerry and Joe Lieberman and former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt. Kerry won his race earlier this month in Massachusetts. Lieberman, Gore's former running mate, has said he will not run if the former VP decides to take another go at it. Gephardt left his position as Minority Leader when the Democrats were left in the minority two weeks ago.
Losco said the Democrats still have time to regroup in time for the 2004 election as long as they decide on a message to send to voters soon.
"The election we just had shows the nation remains incredibly divided," Losco said.
Losco said it would have taken a change of 41,000 votes in Missouri and Minnesota to change the composition of the U.S. Senate.
For Gore to win, Losco said he needs to do at least two things. First, he needs to speak up about the accomplishments of the Democratic Party.
"The problem is, because of Clinton's character problems, he backed away from Clinton," Losco said. "By doing so he also backed away from the Clinton accomplishments."
The second thing Gore must do is win back his home state of Tennessee, Losco said. If he hadn't lost it in 2000, Florida wouldn't have mattered.
And if Florida had not have mattered, there would have been no recount.
If there had been no recount, it would have all been over.//2+++â-¡?3"q;*--"f?+â-íuW+â-º'?-á@T--«-í...`^+â-Ö+â-å-¬J'"p+â-ªF2*+âT)>+â-ä!8+â-Ä... 6Fr3+â-ñr}YMi-¬{K--?+â-ª+â-äA"+â-¦Bc+â+â-ü ?y'd+â-üE+++â-¦E-áG$++-¦1C-¦('+â-âO"+â-Ñ"-¦-ú+â-¦8>+â'+â-ú~HVx+â-è-¦+â-ó+â-ƒp+âc0+â-++â-¬+â-Ñg+â-+0~b=>++â-å+âal_gore/jcs/11.20DNEditorial//2#@d+â-+2AUDT +â-ä -+
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